This is the version of the Memphite Theology from the 8th century BCE stela of pharaoh Shabaka, also known as the Shabaka Stone. The Hieroglyphic text, transposed from columns into rows, follows the facsimile edition of the stela from the plates in El Hawary (2008). The transcription is also taken from there with minor modifications. The translation is from Lichtheim (1973), but with minor additions or changes in parentheses { }, taken from Allen (1988) and Assmann (2007).
The gods who came into being in
Ptah.
There took shape in the heart, there took shape on the tongue, the form of
Atum.
For the very great one is
Ptah, who gave [life] to all the gods and their
Kas
through this heart and through this tongue,
Thus heart and tongue rule over all the limbs
in accordance with the teaching that it is in every body and it is in every mouth
of all gods, all men, all cattle, all creeping things, whatever lives,
thinking whatever it wishes and commanding whatever it wishes.
His
Ennead is before him as teeth and lips. They are the semen and the hands of
Atum.
For the
Ennead of
Atum came into being through his semen and his fingers.
But the
Ennead is the teeth and the lips in this mouth which pronounced the name of every thing,
Verse 13 (col. 55-56)
[edit]
{The eyes’} seeing, {the ears’} hearing, {the nose’s} breathing {of air}; they report to the heart,
and it {is what} makes every understanding come forth.
As to the tongue, it repeats what the heart has devised.
He (
Ptah) is the one who made all the gods, (also)
Atum and his
Ennead.
Verse 18 (col. 56-57)
[edit]
For every {
hieroglyph} came about through what the heart devised and the tongue commanded.
Thus all the {male life-principles} were made and all the {female life-principles} determined they that make all foods and all provisions,
through this word {that makes} what is loved {and} what is hated.
Thus life is given to the peaceful, death is given to the criminal.
Verse 22 (col. 57-58)
[edit]
Thus all labor, all crafts are made, the action of the hands, the motion of the legs, the movements of all the limbs,
according to this command which is devised by the heart and comes forth on the tongue and creates the performance of every thing.
Thus it is said of
Ptah: “He who made all and created the gods”.
And he is
Ta-tenen, who gave birth to the gods, and from whom every thing came forth,
Verse 26 (col. 58-59)
[edit]
foods, provisions, divine offerings, all good things.
He is (also)
Thoth, the Wise, whose power is greater than that of the (other) gods.
So has
Ptah come to rest after his making everything and every {
hieroglyph} as well,
He gave birth to the gods, He made the towns, He established the
nomes,
Verse 30 (col. 59-60)
[edit]
He placed the gods in their shrines, He settled their offerings,
He established their shrines, He made their bodies according to their wishes.
Thus the gods entered into their bodies, of every wood, every stone, every clay,
Verse 33 (col. 60-61)
[edit]
every thing that grows upon him in which they came to be.
- El Hawary, Amr (2010) Wortschöpfung. Die Memphitische Theologie und die Siegesstele des Pije – zwei Zuegen kultureller Repräsentation in der 25. Dynastie
- Lichtheim, Miriam (1973) Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
- Allen, James P. (1988) Genesis in Egypt (link)
- Assmann, Jan (2007) Creation Through Hieroglyphs: The Cosmic Grammatology of Ancient Egypt (link)